Islanders get back in win column with win over Bruins in Boston, Zdeno Chara hurt

The Islanders celebrate Frans Nielsen's goal as they take a 3-2 win in Boston. (Bob DeChiara/USA Today Sports)

The Islanders got back on track with a win in Boston on Thursday and saw an Eastern Conference foe potentially damaged in the process.

Bruins captain and perennial Norris Trophy candidate Zdeno Chara was injured as the Isles took a 3-2 victory over Boston to get back into the win column. They have now won their last three games at TD Garden.

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Chara got the better of John Tavares in a first period collision, as the 6-foot-9, 245-pound defenseman sent the Islanders captain tumbling to the ice, but he would not return to the game after that shift with an undisclosed injury.

The Bruins are undoubtedly hurt by Chara's injury, but for how long? The team could struggle if one of the best defenders in the world is forced to miss a substantial amount of time.

The Islanders suffered an injury of their own, as Josh Bailey exited the game with a broken hand. He is out indefinitely.

A hard fought shift by the Islanders third line led to Frans Nielsen's first goal of the season at 6:21 of the opening period. Nikolay Kulemin began the sequence with an aggressive forecheck, before finding Bailey on the right side of the crease. Bailey was unable to get an angle for a shot, but found Frans Nielsen with a cross-crease pass to set up the Danish forward with his first goal of the year.

Bailey would play the first shift of the second period, but would injure his hand after a check by Boston's Chris Kelly.

Milan Lucic tied it for the Bruins with a transition goal with 1:39 to play in the first, but unlike their disastrous second period in their 5-2 loss against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday, the Isles kept their foot on the gas.

Okposo opened the second period with a rebound goal past Boston goaltender Niklas Svedberg at 1:30. Then a great feed from Matt Martin teed up Cal Clutterbuck for his first goal of the year at 9:27 to build a two-goal advantage, 3-1.

Just under halfway through the final period, Kelly brought Boston within one with a rebound goal past Isles backup goaltender Chad Johnson.

The Bruins put together a heck of a push in the final 10 minutes – including a Loui Eriksson shot that rang off the post - but Johnson (30 saves) and the Isles survived to snap their two-game losing streak.

Johnson, the Bruins backup a year ago, is now 2-1 as an Islander and is 9-0 in his career at TD Garden.

D Lubomir Visnovsky (back) and F Anders Lee made their season debuts in Boston after F Colin McDonald cleared waivers and D Travis Hamonic sat out with what the team considered a day-to-day injury.